The Food of Volunteer Week

What would a week of celebration be without food?  We do not know, as we have food in abundance this week to celebrate our volunteers!  Because our women are great cooks, the celebrations at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women are always graced with good food.  We had tamales, taquitos, pan dulce (or pan de Mexico),  arroz con frijoles rojos, and many more delicacies.  See the photos below for more information -- and THANK YOU, volunteers!

National Volunteer Week: Tuesday

As we continue to travel through National Volunteer Week 2016, we are delighted to show you photos of our "Tuesday crew."  We are ever so grateful to them for their hard work and dedication to the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  Truly, we cannot do this work of God without our volunteers!

In addition to her duties as our coordinator
of the Rosetta Stone program, Sister Gerardine, SCC,
teaches English.  Here she is shown with two of her
students using Easy English News, a monthly
publication that enhances our program.

Sister Marcella, FSP, teaches English on Tuesday mornings,

using various books and other publications with which she

is familiar from her experiences and contacts as a teacher.

Sister Pat, SC, has been teaching quilting at the Center since 2013,         

and at various other places throughout New Jersey for many years.

Here she instructs the women as they begin a new project.

From left:  Angela, Sr. Pat, Rosa, Sr. Marcella, Sr. Gerardine -- our "Tuesday

crew." (Angela is a parishioner at St. Anthony's, Passaic.  She watches over 

the children whose mothers are taking classes on Tuesdays.  Rosa is a postulant

 with the Sisters of Christian Charity.  She is called on to do

a multitude of tasks, including Spanish to English translation.)

Happy National Volunteer Week!

As we enter into National Volunteer Week, we express our gratitude to Sister Eleanor, SMIC and Sister Margaret, SMIC.  On most Mondays, you'll find Sister Eleanor teaching English and Sister Margaret watching over the children whose mothers are learning English.  To these Sisters and to all volunteers who serve the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, we say THANK YOU!

Sister Eleanor, Sister Margaret and some of our women share a Monday morning treat during National Volunteer Week.  Sister Eleanor's class is learning poetry.  At the time this picture was taken, Sister Eleanor was introducing "Trees," by Joyce Kilmer.

Busy Week!

Frankly, every week is busy!  We are experiencing consistent growth, for which we are grateful.  Sometimes, the growth is best illustrated in pictures.  So, here they are! First, take a look at our Wednesday English class and our faithful volunteer teacher, Marie Mead:

Marie has been teaching this English class for over two years.  There have been times when the class has consisted of one, two or three women.  Sometimes in the past, we wondered if anyone would come. However, over the years there has been a steady increase in attendance.  On Wednesday, eleven women -- count them, 11! -- attended the class!  Not only are they learning to speak English well, but they are developing lasting relationships with each other and with their teacher.  We really love showing these photos and telling these stories because they illustrate the ongoing fulfillment of the mission of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women -- to provide a peaceful, safe environment for women to meet each other and express their needs.

We have also seen great progress in our crocheting class.  Crocheting began in September under the direction of Sister Mary Rose, SCC and continues under the direction of our Associate Director, Sister Elaine, FSP, with the assistance of some of the women who crochet, especially Gloria.  We are proud of what these women have learned.  They, too, are justifiably proud of their accomplishments.  Take a look at this week's photos:

We are so grateful to our faithful benefactors who make each day of this ministry possible.

God bless you for your support!

Being recalled



Holy Thursday

I was looking forward to the break that Easter would bring.  Given that we are seeing a distinct upswing in visits to the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women this year and that we haven't had a true break since Christmas, I was looking forward to the rest, relaxation and extra prayer time that Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday would bring us.

However, as we locked the doors of the Center on Wednesday, I was recalled -- that is,  I received an official "Recall Notice" for  the car I drive.  Being overly familiar with past automobile recall notices that had been issued during my almost 40 years of driving, I was prepared to add this notice to a pile of mail and take care of it after Easter.  While cursorily skimming the notice, however, my eyes rested on this:  "In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death."  Following the instructions of the notice, I contacted the dealer, who told me to stop driving the car immediately and informed me that the parts for the repair would not be available until April or May. The dealer offered a free rental car for the duration.  Whether it takes two weeks or two months to get the parts, my transportation needs are covered.

So, I spent my Holy Thursday morning doing something decidedly different from my previous expectations -- visiting the service department of my car dealer and arranging for a rental car.  "It's the beginning of the Paschal Triduum," I said to myself.  "Remain prayerful and stay calm.  Find God in this."  Honestly, I didn't have to do much seeking.  As usual, God found me, this time in the person of the service advisor at my car dealer.  He calmly explained the reason for the recall, took me through the process and called the rental folks.  As I was waiting to be picked up, I encouraged the service advisor to go about his business, as it seemed like a very busy day in his life.  But, he chose to sit and talk with me.  In the process, I learned about his his wife, grown children and grandchildren and his thoughts about philanthropy -- "If I have what I need, I must share with others rather than buying things I don't need." I learned that he does things like paying off the layaway balances for complete strangers on Christmas Eve and contributing to the Community Health Outreach program of our local hospital.  When the rental car gentleman arrived, I was not ready to end the conversation, but I gave the service advisor my business card and went on my way, taking with me the memory of a wonderful encounter with a great service advisor.

The whole process lasted about two hours, after which I was in a surprisingly recollected frame of mind.  Why?  Because on Holy Thursday morning, I experienced a "washing of the feet."  Sure, later in the evening, I would have my right foot actually washed in a church by a priest along with 11 other "disciples."  But, the unexpected washing of my feet that morning -- by a man whose job title is "service advisor" --  helped me to enter into the preparation for the great and holy feast of the Resurrection better than any other preparation I could have designed for myself. By responding to a "recall notice" on the day when the church recalls in a special way Jesus' service to his disciples and his direction to "do as I have done for you,"  I was given a shining example of what that means.  As one who is usually like Peter, saying "Lord, you will never wash my feet," and one whose days are spent primarily washing the feet of many others, I received a "recall notice" from Jesus, who said to me as he had said to Peter, "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me." 

During this Octave of Easter, we at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women are very grateful to those who serve us by "washing our feet" through prayers, donations, volunteer service and countless other ways.  Through you, we find shining examples of consistently positive responses to the many "recall notices"  issued by the Greatest Service Advisor.  May God bless you abundantly. 

Christ is risen!  Truly he is risen!

Happy Easter!

Sr. Ann Marie

Easter Sunday

 

Going Toward the Periphery

On Saturday, February 27, Sister Ann Marie Paul, SCC, Director of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, addressed the Religious Teachers Filippini at Villa Walsh in Morristown, NJ during their annual Study Day.  Sister Ascenza Tizzano, MPF, Provincial Superior, invited Sister Ann Marie to address the theme, "Going Toward the Periphery" as it pertains to the collaborative ministry that is the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.

Having been a member of the subcommittee that worked toward the founding of the Center and now a member of the Center's board, Sister Ascenza is acutely aware of the ministry and its service to those "on the periphery" and she was eager for her Sisters to hear this message.

Because the Center is a collaborative effort between the Diocese of Paterson and its religious communities, these presentations to religious communities are key to the ongoing fulfillment of the mission of the Center.  We are grateful to Sister Ascenza, her Council and the Religious Teachers Filippini in attendance, who responded so positively to the presentation.

Sister Ann Marie addresses the Religious Teachers Filippini
during their annual Study Day on Saturday, February 27 at
Villa Walsh, Morristown.

Sister Ann Marie shows the Sisters a scarf that was
crocheted by one of the women at the Center.

Happy, Grateful New Year!

On this New Year's Day 2016, we want you to know how very grateful we are.  Hopefully, these photos from the end of 2015 will help us to share some of the reasons for our gratitude.

In the beginning of December, we were the recipients of the generosity of the students at Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Township, NJ.  Not only did they donate what appeared to be a TON of diapers, wipes and baby food, but they gave HUNDREDS of dollars worth of gift cards, which we used toward our goal of providing our families with food for the Christmas season.  We are grateful to the IHA staff and student body, to Campus Minister Sarah Shutrop, and to Franciscan Sister of Peace Margaret Gaffikin, who was our "collaborative connector" to IHA.

Thank you, student body of IHA . . .

 

. . . for diapers and wipes . . .

. . . and for an abundance of baby food!

We are STILL grateful to the staff of the Paterson Diocesan Center!  Even before we opened our doors in 2013, they were faithfully responding to our needs.  Their generosity continues.  Not only were they the primary benefactors at our Christmas Boutique in November, but when they heard of our goal to provide food for our families this Christmas, they created a "Giving Tree."  Adding their abundant generosity to that of the students at IHA (mentioned above), we were able to provide supermarket gift cards for 55 families in Passaic this Christmas -- AND we have enough cards left over for emergency situations in the new year (which had been depleted prior to Christmas).

Thank you, staff of the Paterson Diocesan Center!
Your Giving Tree helped us to feed the hungry this Christmas!

Thank you to the women who visit the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women each day.  The Center exists to serve you, but those of us who minister here receive so much from you.  Daily you remind us why we do what we do and how to be better at it.  You teach us so much about hospitality, especially when you provided us with a Christmas celebration!



The cake that our women provided for the Christmas celebration
they planned and carried out.

We are also grateful to our women who took a leadership role in our crocheting class.  Sister Mary Rose Mroz, SCC spent several weeks teaching our women to crochet.  When her ministry called Sister Mary Rose away from North Jersey, we started to look for a new instructor.   In the meantime, the women continued to attend class.  Sister Elaine Maguire, FSP, our Associate Director, watched over the class while the women decided what they wanted to make next, consulted with others as to how to go about making their next projects and instructed each other when they ran into problems.  While we are still seeking an instructor, we are edified by the perseverance of our women and their growth as leaders.

Gloria models the hat and scarf she crocheted.

The handiwork of the crochet class on display

 We are incredibly grateful for our new collaborative connection with St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ.  You might be familiar with the "Make a Difference" program from this article in the press.  In an effort to extend the Catholic mission of the healthcare system beyond charity care or subsidized health care, CEO Kevin Slavin tasked his executives to go out into the areas served by St. Joe's and . . . make a difference!  The Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women benefited from this initiative with donations of gifts and promises of future assistance. 

Sister Ann Marie, Director of the Center, receives
Christmas gifts from Deborah Hartel and John Hart,
executives at St. Joseph's Healthcare System.

While we cannot even begin to predict what 2016 will bring, we are grateful that the overwhelming generosity of our benefactors will continue.  It is so difficult to truly express how our collaborative connections have produced such abundant fruit and have made such a difference in Passaic.  This blog post -- lengthy as it is -- cannot even begin to scratch the surface of our gratitude.  To all who have had any connection to this ministry, we say:  "Thank you and God bless you!"  May your 2016 be filled with an abundance of graces.